Miles of rolling vineyards. Picturesque inns with names like The Grape Leaf Inn and Relais du Soleil. Wine tasting tours and wonderful restaurants with the finest of cuisine.
These are but a few of the features of the Sonoma Valley located about an hour’s drive north of San Francisco.
But the serenity is about to be shattered by the roar of 43 750 hp engines this afternoon. NASCAR is about to strut its stuff for the claret connoisseurs at Infineon Raceway in the Dodge/Save Mart 350.
The easiest bet in town will be whether the beverage of choice is going to be the stuff that made this area famous or the stuff that made Milwaukee famous. It’s hard to picture rail-thin Sauvignon-sniffers in their Birkenstock sandals, rubbing elbows with suds-loving sneaker-wearers on a raucous road trip.
And while on the topic of roads, the Infineon is a 1.99-mile road track with more curves than a hay wagon full of Brooke Burkes. The map roughly resembles a slingshot carved by a drunken sailor.
This is the 16th race of the Nextel Cup season and the first of two road races on the schedule. The second comes on Aug. 14 at Watkins Glen International.
There’s something different about a road race. We’re not just talking about right hand turns for the left turn set – it’s much more than that. The skill set is so different that “specialists” are brought in to replace some drivers who find roads more of a culture shock than a comfort zone.
This is where we see drivers like Boris Said (12-1) get more attention than at any other track. The wooly-haired square shooter who always visits Alcatraz on this trip will be piloting the Centrix Financial Chevrolet through the “S’s.” He proved his value by guiding his ride to a fourth place spot in qualifying. He drove in a conservative fashion because he had to qualify on time, with no automatic entry due to points.
“It was easy for me,” the likeable Said told reporters afterward. “It can go faster but without that Mulligan, there’s pressure there. I was careful not to overdrive, so I went at about 90 percent.”
Said has two sixth place finishes over the past two years and his start position makes him a real threat to end up near the top.
Another “ringer” is Ron Fellows (12-1) from Mississauga, Ontario, just outside of Toronto. Last Sunday, he drove a Corvette to second place in the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the biggest event in France. He will be suited up for the No. 32 Tide Chevrolet normally driven by Bobby Hamilton Jr. In Fellows’ last start here in 2003, he started outside the pole and finished seventh. Unfortunately, he overdrove the first part of the course in qualifying and had to use all his skills to run a quick second half, ending up at the end of the pack.
Cut from the same cloth is Scott Pruett (12-1) driving the No. 39 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing. He performed up to expectations, qualifying the Texaco/Havoline “Shine On” No. 39 to ninth on the grid. Last year Pruett started in sixth and drove his way to a third place finish.
As long as we’re name-dropping, let’s discuss another specialist by the name of Jeff Gordon (7-2). His credentials include nine top sixes in his last 10 Infineon visits, including four wins, his most recent occurring in last year’s grape-stomper. And he’s driving the same car he won with last year.
Although he hasn’t had much success on his last four oval outings, as the old saying says, a change is as good as a rest. Besides, this is like a homecoming for Jeff who started his racing career at the ripe old age of five in the Bay Area of Vallejo. A little icing on the homecoming cake is that Gordon is the leader in active NASCAR drivers with eight road course wins.
Proving that he is an expert in his own right, JG was the last one to qualify but he did it with flair, winning the pole and breaking the track record. When they make a movie about him, they won’t have to look any further to find the right guy to play the lead role.
Another among the regulars, Tony Stewart (8-1), has shown he has a taste for grapeland. He has been in this event six times and racked up a formidable record of one win and three top 10s. Although his no-win streak has reached 29 races, he has the cat-who-swallowed-the-canary look about him.
One of the surprises in qualifying was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who starts in tenth. He seems to have the strategy figured out, stating: “If you can relax and back it down a notch you can race faster.” Maybe he can rid himself of a stat he isn’t proud of: this and Homestead are the only two tracks where he doesn’t have a top 10 finish.
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Hard luck has befallen Robby Gordon (10-1) all season but this could be a reversal for him. Besides going clockwise, that is. Robby won both road races in 2003. He has made mistakes that happen when you are both owner and driver and has had six DNF’s due to engine problems or accidents. You have to think that No. 7 will become a lucky number soon. There is a hint of promise that it could happen with him starting the Hurrah’s Chev in fifth on the inside of Kurt Busch (30-1).
Five-time winner this year, Greg Biffle (25-1) hasn’t displayed the record on road races that he has in his round races. He has appeared in the Infineon slalom twice and finished 13th and 37th. He looked totally out of his element in qualifying, going off the track and almost ending up in the stacked tire barrier. In on points, he starts in 41st.
Qualifying is always important but never more so than in the Sonoma Valley. Of sixteen races, twelve checkered flags have come from the top five. Only twice have cars won from outside the top 10 (starting in 11th and 13th). Four of the last eight winners began on the pole. Can you spell Jeff Gordon?
Ricky Rudd (20-1), who won here in 2002, has nine top fives in vineland. He sits in 20th after qualifying.
Tires. Dare we tread there? We have to wonder what will happen with the newly designed tires at Infineon? With so many tight turns, there will be a lot more braking and because there are right turns too, there will be more wear on both sides of these softer tires engineered by Goodyear. We’re lighting votive candles to the tire gods in an effort to avoid the same score as at Pocono: Tires: 22, Cars: 0.
Michael Waltrip says: ”Don’t blame Goodyear. They did exactly what we asked them to do.” The softer tires give a better grip and make the cars faster but they can’t go as many laps as the old ones.
JG won’t feel lonely on the pole. Next to him is teammate and points leader Jimmie Johnson (15-1) who said, “I’ve been a good road course driver. I’ve just made mistakes.”
In third place on the grid is the grizzled veteran, Mark Martin (12-1) who won from the pole here in 1997.
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